Moorpark deals Royal first softball loss

Moorpark's Danielle Brown tries to handle a throw as Royal's Kaitlin Orsini slides safely into third base during a Marmonte League game on Tuesday afternoon at Moorpark High.

Ventura County Star

Moorpark High softball coach Meaghan Stotts isn't shocked when her team belts home runs in bunches.

But she was a bit surprised to see the Musketeers do it against Nancy Bowling.

The Royal High senior pitcher hadn't given up a run all season entering Tuesday's Marmonte League showdown.

But the Musketeers changed that quickly by staging their own version of home run derby.

Moorpark used the long ball to hand Royal its first defeat of the year, hitting three home runs in a 7-2 victory at Moorpark High.

"We anticipated it being a low-scoring game, but once one player sets the tone, everyone else follows," Stotts said. "Every girl on this team is capable of putting the ball over the fence because this group is so strong offensively this year. They just feed off each other."

The Arizona-bound Bowling had six strikeouts for Royal (5-1, 1-1) to keep the game scoreless through the first three innings.

But Moorpark (5-3, 2-0) finally got to Bowling in the fourth inning.

Madison Fleming reached base to lead off the inning when the rightfielder lost the ball in the sun and let it drop behind her. Sophomore Alexa Curt stepped to the plate and drilled a two-run home run over the center-field fence to give Moorpark a 2-0 lead.

"The funny part is, I was thinking just put the ball in play," Curt said. "Even though I struck out my first time up, I felt on. I felt like I had this and I just touched the ball and it went over the fence. It all worked out well."

Moorpark added another run in the inning on an RBI single by pinchhitter Kassidy Simons.

But the Musketeers went back to the long ball in the fifth inning when freshman Amanda Lorenz led off with a solo shot over the center-field fence. Two outs later, Nicole Pufahl golfed a three-run home run near the same spot for a 7-0 lead.

"I feel like once I hit mine, everyone realized, 'OK. We can do this. We got this,'" Curt said. "I think we just needed that one push and we were good. Nancy was throwing good, but we are great hitters. It's as simple as that."

Royal got one run back in the sixth inning, thanks to an error, and Brynn Lesovsky hit a home run in the seventh. But it was not early enough to keep pace with Moorpark.

Bowling (5-1) went the distance for Royal, giving up eight hits and striking out 11.

"We didn't come out here to play ball today. I can't say anything more than that," Royal head coach Bill Dishon said. "If our pitcher doesn't have her best, typically it won't matter for us because we usually hit ourselves out of it. Today we didn't."

Cheyenne Sandoval and Rachael Farrington combined to hold Royal to two runs on five hits.

Kaitlyn Wilkens went 3 for 3 for Moorpark with singles in each at-bat.

"Our girls really studied the pitcher and did their homework on offense," Stotts said. "They focused on her approach and mentally prepared themselves by walking through the at-bats."

Although the Musketeers danced near the pitcher's circle to celebrate the victory, Stotts knows there are still many more challenges ahead.

"It's too early in the season to call this a big win," Stotts said. "I am proud of the girls, but I told them we need to stay focused."